Neither the past nor the future had much real interest forBastin; any more than they had for Bickley, though for differentreasons. The former was done with; the latter he was quitecontent to leave in other hands. If he had any clear ideathereof, probably that undiscovered land appeared to him as abig, pleasant place where are no unbelievers or erroneousdoctrines, and all sinners will be sternly repressed, in which,clad in a white surplice with all proper ecclesiasticaltrappings, he would argue eternally with the Early Fathers and indue course utterly annihilate Bickley, that is in a moral sense.Personally and as a man he was extremely attached to Bickley as anecessary and wrong-headed nuisance to which he had becomeaccustomed.

And I! What did I feel? I do not know; I cannot describe. Anextraordinary attraction, a semi-spiritual exaltation, I think.That cave mouth might have been a magnet drawing my soul. With mybody I should have been afraid, as I daresay I was, for ourcircumstances were sufficiently desperate. Here we were,castaways upon an island, probably uncharted, one of thousands inthe recesses of a vast ocean, from which we had little chance ofescape. More, having offended the religious instincts of theprimeval inhabitants of that island, we had been forced to fleeto a rocky mountain in the centre of a lake, where, after thefood we had brought with us by accident was consumed, we shouldno doubt be forced to choose between death by starvation, or, ifwe attempted to retreat, at the hands of justly infuriatedsavages. Yet these facts did not oppress me, for I was beingdrawn, drawn to I knew not what, and if it were to doom--well, nomatter.

Therefore, none of us cared: Bastin because his faith was equalto any emergency and there was always that white-robed heavenwaiting for him beyond which his imagination did not go (I oftenwondered whether he pictured Mrs. Bastin as also waiting; if so,he never said anything about her); Bickley because as a child ofthe Present and a servant of knowledge he feared no future,believing it to be for him non-existent, and was careless as towhen his strenuous hour of life should end; and I because I feltthat yonder lay my true future; yes, and my true past, eventhough to discover them I must pass through that portal which weknow as Death.

We reached the mouth of the cave. It was a vast place; perhapsthe arch of it was a hundred feet high, and I could see that onceall this arch had been adorned with sculptures. Protected asthese were by the overhanging rock, for the sculptured mouth ofthe cave was cut deep into the mountain face, they were still soworn that it was impossible to discern their details. Time hadeaten them away like an acid. But what length of time? I couldnot guess, but it must have been stupendous to have worked thusupon that hard and sheltered rock.

This came home to me with added force when, from subsequentexamination, we learned that the entire mouth of this cave hadbeen sealed up for unnumbered ages. It will be remembered thatMarama told me the mountain in the lake had risen much during thefrightful cyclone in which we were wrecked and with it the cavemouth which previously had been invisible. From the markings onthe mountain side it was obvious that something of the sort hadhappened very recently, at any rate on this eastern face. Thatis, either the flat rock had sunk or the volcano had been thrownupwards.

Once in the far past the cave had been as it was when we foundit. Then it had gone down in such a way that the table-rockentirely sealed the entrance. Now this entrance was once moreopen, and although of course there was a break in them, thegrooves of which I have spoken ran on into the cave at only aslightly different level from that at which they lay upon theflat rock. And yet, although they had been thus sheltered by agreat stone curtain in front of them, still these sculptures wereworn away by the tooth of Time. Of course, however, this may havehappened to them before they were buried in some ancientcataclysm, to be thus resurrected at the hour of our arrival uponthe island.

Without pausing to make any closer examination of thesecrumbled carvings, we entered the yawning mouth of that greatplace, following and indeed walking in the deep grooves that Ihave mentioned. Presently it seemed to open out as a courtyardmight at the end of a passage; yes, to open on to some vast placewhereof in that gloom we could not see the roof or the limits.All we knew was that it must be enormous--the echoes of ourvoices and footsteps told us as much, for these seemed to comeback to us from high, high above and from far, far away. Bickleyand I said nothing; we were too overcome. But Bastin remarked:

"Did you ever go to Olympia? I did once to see a kind of playwhere the people said nothing, only ran about dressed up. Theytold me it was religious, the sort of thing a clergyman shouldstudy. I didn't think it religious at all. It was all about a nunwho had a baby."

"Well, what of it?" snapped Bickley.

"Nothing particular, except that nuns don't have babies, or ifthey do the fact should not be advertised. But I wasn't thinkingof that. I was thinking that this place is like an undergroundOlympia."

"Oh, be quiet!" I said, for though Bastin's description was notbad, his monotonous, drawling voice jarred on me in thatsolemnity.

"Be careful where you walk," whispered Bickley, for even heseemed awed, "there may be pits in this floor."

"I wish we had a light," I said, halting.

"If candles are of any use," broke in Bastin, "as it happens Ihave a packet in my pocket. I took them with me this morning fora certain purpose."

"Not unconnected with the paraffin and the burning of the idol,I suppose?" said Bickley. "Hand them over."

"Yes; if I had been allowed a little more time I intended--"

"Never mind what you intended; we know what you did and that'senough," said Bickley as he snatched the packet from Bastin'shand and proceeded to undo it, adding, "By heaven! I have nomatches, nor have you, Arbuthnot!"

"I have a dozen boxes of wax vestas in my other pocket," saidBastin. "You see, they burn so well when you want to get up afire on a damp idol. As you may have noticed, the dew is veryheavy here."

In due course these too were produced. I took possession ofthem as they were too valuable to be left in the charge ofBastin, and, extracting a box from the packet, lit two of thecandles which were of the short thick variety, like those used incarriage-lamps.

Presently they burned up, making two faint stars of lightwhich, however, were not strong enough to show us either the roofor the sides of that vast place. By their aid we pursued ourpath, still following the grooves till suddenly these came to anend. Now all around us was a flat floor of rock which, as weperceived clearly when we pushed aside the dust that had gatheredthickly on it in the course of ages, doubtless from the gradualdisintegration of the stony walls, had once been polished till itresembled black marble. Indeed, certain cracks in the floorappeared to have been filled in with some dark-coloured cement. Istood looking at them while Bickley wandered off to the right anda little forward, and presently called to me. I walked to him,Bastin sticking close to me as I had the other candle, as did thelittle dog, Tommy, who did not like these new surroundings andwould not leave my heels.

Before me, faintly shown, was some curious structure ofgleaming rods made of yellowish metal, which rods appeared to beconnected by wires. The structure might have been forty feet highand perhaps a hundred long. Its bottom part was buried in dust.

"What is that?" asked Bickley again.

I made no answer, for I was thinking. Bastin, however, replied:

"It's difficult to be sure in this light, but I should thinkthat it may be the remains of a cage in which some people wholived here kept monkeys, or perhaps it was an aviary. Look atthose little ladders for the monkeys to climb by, or possibly forthe birds to sit on."

"Are you sure it wasn't tame angels?" asked Bickley.

"What a ridiculous remark! How can you keep an angel in a cage?I--"

"Aeroplane!" I almost whispered to Bickley.

"You've got it!" he answered. "The framework of an aeroplaneand a jolly large one, too. Only why hasn't it oxidised?"

"Some indestructible metal," I suggested. "Gold, for instance,does not oxidise."

He nodded and said:

"We shall have to dig it out. The dust is feet thick about it;we can do nothing without spades. Come on."

We went round to the end of the structure, whatever it mightbe, and presently came to another. Again we went on and came toanother, all of them being berthed exactly in line.

"What did I tell you?" said Bickley in a voice of triumph. "Awhole garage full, a regular fleet of aeroplanes!"

"That must be nonsense," said Bastin, "for I am quite sure thatthese Orofenans cannot make such things. Indeed they have nometal, and even cut the throats of pigs with wooden knives."

Now I began to walk forward, bearing to the left so as toregain our former line. We could do nothing with these metalskeletons, and I felt that there must be more to find beyond.Presently I saw something looming ahead of me and quickened mypace, only to recoil. For there, not thirty feet away and perhapsthree hundred yards from the mouth of the cave, suddenly appearedwhat looked like a gigantic man. Tommy saw it also and barked asdogs do when they are frightened, and the sound of his yapsechoed endlessly from every quarter, which scared him to silence.Recovering myself I went forward, for now I guessed the truth. Itwas not a man but a statue.

The thing stood upon a huge base which lessened by successivesteps, eight of them, I think, to its summit. The foot of thisbase may have been a square of fifty feet or rather more; thereal support or pedestal of the statue, however, was only asquare of about six feet. The figure itself was little abovelife-size, or at any rate above our life-size, say seven feet inheight. It was very peculiar in sundry ways.

To begin with, nothing of the body was visible, for it wasswathed like a corpse. From these wrappings projected one arm,the right, in the hand of which was the likeness of a lightedtorch. The head was not veiled. It was that of a man, long-nosed,thin-lipped, stern-visaged; the countenance pervaded by an awfuland unutterable calm, as deep as that of Buddha only less benign.On the brow was a wreathed head-dress, not unlike an Easternturban, from which sprang two little wings resembling in somedegree those on the famous Greek head of Hypnos, lord of Sleep.Between the folds of the wrappings on the back sprang two otherwings, enormous wings bent like those of a bird about to takeflight. Indeed the whole attitude of the figure suggested that itwas springing from earth to air. It was executed in black basaltor some stone of the sort, and very highly finished. Forinstance, on the bare feet and the arm which held the torch couldbe felt every muscle and even some of the veins. In the same waythe details of the skull were perfectly perceptible to the touch,although at first sight not visible on the marble surface. Thiswas ascertained by climbing on the pedestal and feeling the facewith our hands.

Here I may say that its modelling as well as that of the feetand the arm filled Bickley, who, of course, was a highly trainedanatomist, with absolute amazement. He said that he would neverhave thought it possible that such accuracy could have beenreached by an artist working in so hard a material.

When the others had arrived we studied this relic as closely asour two candles would allow, and in turn expressed our opinionsof its significance. Bastin thought that if those things downthere were really the remains of aeroplanes, which he did notbelieve, the statue had something to do with flying, as was shownby the fact that it had wings on its head and shoulders. Also, headded, after examining the face, the head was uncommonly likethat of the idol that he had blown up. It had the same long noseand severe shut mouth. If he was right, this was probably anothereffigy of Oro which we should do well to destroy at once beforethe islanders came to worship it.

Bickley ground his teeth as he listened to him.

"Destroy that!" he gasped. "Destroy! Oh! you, you--earlyChristian."

Here I may state that Bastin was quite right, as we provedsubsequently when we compared the head of the fetish, which, asit will be remembered, he had brought away with him, with that ofthe statue. Allowing for an enormous debasement of art, they wereessentially identical in the facial characteristics. This wouldsuggest the descent of a tradition through countless generations.Or of course it may have been accidental. I am sure I do notknow, but I think it possible that for unknown centuries otherold statues may have existed in Orofena from which the idol wascopied. Or some daring and impious spirit may have found his wayto the cave in past ages and fashioned the local god upon thisancient model.

Bickley was struck at once, as I had been, with the resemblanceof the figure to that of the Egyptian Osiris. Of course therewere differences. For instance, instead of the crook and thescourge, this divinity held a torch. Again, in place of the crownof Egypt it wore a winged head-dress, though it is true this wasnot very far removed from the winged disc of that country. Thewings that sprang from its shoulders, however, suggestedBabylonia rather than Egypt, or the Assyrian bulls that aresimilarly adorned. All of these symbolical ideas might have beentaken from that figure. But what was it? What was it?

In a flash the answer came to me. A representation of thespirit of Death! Neither more nor less. There was the shroud;there the cold, inscrutable countenance suggesting mysteries thatit hid. But the torch and the wings? Well, the torch was thatwhich lighted souls to the other world, and on the wings theyflew thither. Whoever fashioned that statue hoped for anotherlife, or so I was convinced.

I explained my ideas. Bastin thought them fanciful andpreferred his notion of a flying man, since by constitution hewas unable to discover anything spiritual in any religion excepthis own. Bickley agreed that it was probably an allegoricalrepresentation of death but sniffed at my interpretation of thewings and the torch, since by constitution he could not believethat the folly of a belief in immortality could have developed soearly in the world, that is, among a highly civilised people suchas must have produced this statue.

What we could none of us understand was why this ominous imagewith its dead, cold face should have been placed in an aerodrome,nor in fact did we ever discover. Possibly it was there longbefore the cave was put to this use. At first the place may havebeen a temple and have so remained until circumstances forced theworshippers to change their habits, or even their Faith.

We examined this wondrous work and the pedestal on which itstood as closely as we were able by the dim light of our candles.I was anxious to go further and see what lay beyond it; indeed wedid walk a few paces, twenty perhaps, onward into the recesses ofthe cave.

Then Bickley discovered something that looked like the mouth ofa well down which he nearly tumbled, and Bastin began to complainthat he was hot and very thirsty; also to point out that hewished for no more caves and idols at present.

"Look here, Arbuthnot," said Bickley, "these candles areburning low and we don't want to use up more if we can preventit, for we may need what we have got very badly later on. Now,according to my pocket compass the mouth of this cave points dueeast; probably at the beginning it was orientated to the risingsun for purposes of astronomical observation or of worship atcertain periods of the year. From the position of the sun when welanded on the rock this morning I imagine that just now it risesalmost exactly opposite to the mouth of the cave. If this is so,to-morrow at dawn, for a time at least, the light shouldpenetrate as far as the statue, and perhaps further. What Isuggest is that we should walt till then to explore."

I agreed with him, especially as I was feeling tired, beingexhausted by wonder, and wanted time to think. So we turned back.As we did so I missed Tommy and inquired anxiously where he was,being afraid lest he might have tumbled down the well-like hole.

"He's all right," said Bastin. "I saw him sniffing at the baseof that statue. I expect there is a rat in there, or perhaps asnake."

Sure enough when we reached it there was Tommy with his blacknose pressed against the lowest of the tiers that formed the baseof the statue, and sniffing loudly. Also he was scratching in thedust as a dog does when he has winded a rabbit in a hole. Soengrossed was he in this occupation that it was with difficultythat I coaxed him to leave the place.

I did not think much of the incident at that time, butafterwards it came back to me, and I determined to investigatethose stones at the first opportunity.

Passing the wrecks of the machines, we emerged on to thecauseway without accident. After we had rested and washed we setto work to draw our canoe with its precious burden of food rightinto the mouth of the cave, where we hid it as well as we could.

This done we went for a walk round the base of the peak. Thisproved to be a great deal larger than we had imagined, over twomiles in circumference indeed. All about it was a belt of fertileland, as I suppose deposited there by the waters of the greatlake and resulting from the decay of vegetation. Much of thisbelt was covered with ancient forest ending in mud flats thatappeared to have been thrown up recently, perhaps at the time ofthe tidal wave which bore us to Orofena. On the higher part ofthe belt were many of the extraordinary crater-like holes that Ihave mentioned as being prevalent on the main island; indeed theplace had all the appearance of having been subjected to aterrific and continuous bombardment.

When we had completed its circuit we set to work to climb thepeak in order to explore the terraces of which I have spoken andthe ruins which I had seen through my field-glasses. It was quitetrue; they were terraces cut with infinite labour out of thesolid rock, and on them had once stood a city, now pounded intodust and fragments. We struggled over the broken blocks of stoneto what we had taken for a temple, which stood near the lip ofthe crater, for without doubt this mound was an extinct volcano,or rather its crest. All we could make out when we arrived wasthat here had once stood some great building, for its courtscould still be traced; also there lay about fragments of stepsand pillars.

Apparently the latter had once been carved, but the passage ofinnumerable ages had obliterated the work and we could not turnthese great blocks over to discover if any remained beneath. Itwas as though the god Thor had broken up the edifice with hishammer, or Jove had shattered it with his thunderbolts; nothingelse would account for that utter wreck, except, as Bickleyremarked significantly, the scientific use of high explosives.

Following the line of what seemed to have been a road, we cameto the edge of the volcano and found, as we expected, the usualdepression out of which fire and lava had once been cast, as fromHecla or Vesuvius. It was now a lake more than a quarter of amile across. Indeed it had been thus in the ancient days when thebuildings stood upon the terraces, for we saw the remains ofsteps leading down to the water. Perhaps it had served as thesacred lake of the temple.

We gazed with wonderment and then, wearied out, scrambled backthrough the ruins, which, by the way, were of a different stonefrom the lava of the mountain, to the mouth of the great cave.

Chapter X

The Dwellers in the Tomb

By now it was drawing towards sunset, so we made suchpreparations as we could for the night. One of these was tocollect dry driftwood, of which an abundance lay upon the shore,to serve us for firing, though unfortunately we had nothing thatwe could cook for our meal.

While we were thus engaged we saw a canoe approaching thetable-rock and perceived that in it were the chief Marama and apriest. After hovering about for a while they paddled the canoenear enough to allow of conversation which, taking no notice oftheir presence, we left it to them to begin.

"O, Friend-from-the-Sea," called Marama, addressing myself, "wecome to pray you and the Great Healer to return to us to be ourguests as before. The people are covered with darkness because ofthe loss of your wisdom, and the sick cry aloud for the Healer;indeed two of those whom he has cut with knives are dying."

"And what of the Bellower?" I asked, indicating Bastin.

"We should like to see him back also, Friend-from-the-Sea, thatwe may sacrifice and eat him, who destroyed our god with fire andcaused the Healer to kill his priest."

"That is most unjust," exclaimed Bastin. "I deeply regret theblood that was shed on the occasion, unnecessarily as I think."

"Then go and atone for it with your own," said Bickley, "andeverybody will be pleased."

Waving to them to be silent, I said:

"Are you mad, Marama, that you should ask us to return tosojourn among people who tried to kill us, merely because theBellower caused fire to burn an image of wood and its head to flyfrom its shoulders, just to show you that it had no power to holditself together, although you call it a god? Not so, we wash ourhands of you; we leave you to go your own way while we go ours,till perchance in a day to come, after many misfortunes haveovertaken you, you creep about our feet and with prayers andofferings beg us to return."

I paused to observe the effect of my words. It was excellent,for both Marama and the priest wrung their hands and groaned.Then I went on:

"Meanwhile we have something to tell you. We have entered thecave where you said no man might set a foot, and have seen himwho sits within, the true god." (Here Bastin tried to interrupt,but was suppressed by Bickley.)

They looked at each other in a frightened way and groaned moreloudly than before.

"He sends you a message, which, as he told us of your approach,we came to the shore to deliver to you."

"How can you say that?" began Bastin, but was again violentlysuppressed by Bickley.

"It is that he, the real Oro, rejoices that the false Oro,whose face is copied from his face, has been destroyed. It isthat he commands you day by day to bring food in plenty and layit upon the Rock of Offerings, not forgetting a supply of freshfish from the sea, and with it all those things that are storedin the house wherein we, the strangers from the sea, deigned todwell awhile until we left you because in your wickedness youwished to murder us."

"And if we refuse--what then?" asked the priest, speaking forthe first time.

"Then Oro will send death and destruction upon you. Then yourfood shall fail and you shall perish of sickness and want, andthe Oromatuas, the spirits of the great dead, shall haunt you inyour sleep, and Oro shall eat up your souls."

At these horrible threats both of them uttered a kind of wail,after which, Marama asked:

"And if we consent, what then, Friend-from-the-Sea?"

"Then, perchance," I answered, "in some day to come we mayreturn to you, that I may give you of my wisdom and the GreatHealer may cure your sick and the Bellower may lead you throughhis gate, and in his kindness make you to see with his eyes."

This last clause of my ultimatum did not seem to appeal to thepriest, who argued a while with Marama, though what he said wecould not hear. In the end he appeared to give way. At any rateMarama called out that all should be done as we wished, and thatmeanwhile they prayed us to intercede with Oro in the cave, andto keep back the ghosts from haunting them, and to protect themfrom misfortune. I replied that we would do our best, but couldguarantee nothing since their offence was very great.

Then, to show that the conversation was at an end, we walkedaway with dignity, pushing Bastin in front of us, lest he shouldspoil the effect by some of his ill-timed and often over-trueremarks.

"That's capital," said Bickley, when we were out of hearing."The enemy has capitulated. We can stop here as long as we like,provisioned from the mainland, and if for any reason we wish toleave, be sure of our line of retreat."

"I don't know what you call capital," exclaimed Bastin. "Itseems to me that all the lies which Arbuthnot has just told aresufficient to bring a judgment upon us. Indeed, I think that Iwill go back with Marama and explain the truth."

"I never before knew anybody who was so anxious to be cookedand eaten," remarked Bickley. "Moreover, you are too late, forthe canoe is a hundred yards away by now, and you shan't haveours. Remember the Pauline maxims, old fellow, which you are sofond of quoting, and be all things to all men, and another thatis more modern, that when you are at Rome, you must do as theRomans do; also a third, that necessity has no law, and for thematter of that, a fourth, that all is fair in love and war."

"I am sure, Bickley, that Paul never meant his words to bearthe debased sense which you attribute to them--" began Bastin,but at this point I hustled him off to light a fire--a process atwhich I pointed out he had shown himself an expert.

We slept that night under the overhanging rock just to one sideof the cave, not in the mouth, because of the draught which drewin and out of the great place. In that soft and balmy clime thiswas no hardship, although we lacked blankets. And yet, tiredthough I was, I could not rest as I should have done. Bastinsnored away contentedly, quite unaffected by his escape which tohim was merely an incident in the day's work; and so, too,slumbered Bickley, except that he did not snore. But theamazement and the mystery of all that we had discovered and ofall that might be left for us to discover, held me back fromsleep.

What did it mean? What could it mean? My nerves were taut asharp strings and seemed to vibrate to the touch of invisiblefingers, although I could not interpret the music that they made.Once or twice also I thought I heard actual music with myphysical ears, and that of a strange quality. Soft and low anddreamful, it appeared to well from the recesses of the vast cave,a wailing song in an unknown tongue from the lips of women, or ofa woman, multiplied mysteriously by echoes. This, however, musthave been pure fancy, since there was no singer there.

Presently I dozed off, to be awakened by the sudden sound of agreat fish leaping in the lake. I sat up and stared, fearing lestit might be the splash of a paddle, for I could not put from mymind the possibility of attack. All I saw, however, was the lowline of the distant shore, and above it the bright and settingstars that heralded the coming of the sun. Then I woke theothers, and we washed and ate, since once the sun rose time wouldbe precious.

At length it appeared, splendid in a cloudless sky, and, as Ihad hoped, directly opposite to the mouth of the cave. Taking ourcandles and some stout pieces of driftwood which, with ourknives, we had shaped on the previous evening to serve us aslevers and rough shovels, we entered the cave. Bickley and I werefilled with excitement and hope of what we knew not, but Bastinshowed little enthusiasm for our quest. His heart was with hishalf-converted savages beyond the lake, and of them, quiterightly I have no doubt, he thought more than he did of all thearchaeological treasures in the whole earth. Still, he came,bearing the blackened head of Oro with him which, withunconscious humour, he had used as a pillow through the nightbecause, as he said, "it was after all softer than stone." Also,I believe that in his heart he hoped that he might find anopportunity of destroying the bigger and earlier edition of Oroin the cave, before it was discovered by the natives who mightwish to make it an object of worship. Tommy came also, withgreater alacrity than I expected, since dogs do not as a rulelike dark places. When we reached the statue I learned thereason; he remembered the smell he had detected at its base onthe previous day, which Bastin supposed to proceed from a rat,and was anxious to continue his investigations.

We went straight to the statue, although Bickley passed thehalf-buried machines with evident regret. As we had hoped, thestrong light of the rising sun fell upon it in a vivid ray,revealing all its wondrous workmanship and the majesty--for noother word describes it--of the somewhat terrifying countenancethat appeared above the wrappings of the shroud. Indeed, I wasconvinced that originally this monument had been placed here inorder that on certain days of the year the sun might fall upon itthus, when probably worshippers assembled to adore their hallowedsymbol. After all, this was common in ancient days: witness theinstance of the awful Three who sit in the deepest recesses ofthe temple of Abu Simbel, on the Nile.

We gazed and gazed our fill, at least Bickley and I did, forBastin was occupied in making a careful comparison between thehead of his wooden Oro and that of the statue.

"There is no doubt that they are very much alike," he said."Why, whatever is that dog doing? I think it is going mad," andhe pointed to Tommy who was digging furiously at the base of thelowest step, as at home I have seen him do at roots thatsheltered a rabbit.

Tommy's energy was so remarkable that at length it seriouslyattracted our attention. Evidently he meant that it should do so,for occasionally he sprang back to me barking, then returned andsniffed and scratched. Bickley knelt down and smelt at the stone.

"It is an odd thing, Humphrey," he said, "but there is astrange odour here, a very pleasant odour like that ofsandal-wood or attar of roses."

"I never heard of a rat that smelt like sandal-wood or attar ofroses," said Bastin. "Look out that it isn't a snake."

I knelt down beside Bickley, and in clearing away the deep dustfrom what seemed to be the bottom of the step, which was perhapsfour feet in height, by accident thrust my amateur spade somewhatstrongly against its base where it rested upon the rocky floor.

Next moment a wonder came to pass. The whole massive rockbegan to turn outwards as though upon a pivot! I saw it comingand grabbed Bickley by the collar, dragging him back so that wejust rolled clear before the great block, which must have weighedseveral tons, fell down and crushed us. Tommy saw it too, andfled, though a little late, for the edge of the block caught thetip of his tail and caused him to emit a most piercing howl. Butwe did not think of Tommy and his woes; we did not think of ourown escape or of anything else because of the marvel thatappeared to us. Seated there upon the ground, after our backwardtumble, we could see into the space which lay behind the fallenstep, for there the light of the sun penetrated.

The first idea it gave me was that of the jewelled shrine ofsome mediaeval saint which, by good fortune, had escaped theplunderers; there are still such existing in the world. It shoneand glittered, apparently with gold and diamonds, although, as amatter of fact, there were no diamonds, nor was it gold whichgleamed, but some ancient metal, or rather amalgam, which is nowlost to the world, the same that was used in the tubes of theair-machines. I think that it contained gold, but I do not know.At any rate, it was equally lasting and even more beautiful,though lighter in colour.

For the rest this adorned recess which resembled that of alarge funeral vault, occupying the whole space beneath the baseof the statue that was supported on its arch, was empty save fortwo flashing objects that lay side by side but with nearly thewhole width of the vault between them.

I pointed at them to Bickley with my finger, for really I couldnot speak.

A few seconds later we were crawling into that vault whileBastin, still nursing the head of Oro as though it were a baby,stood confused outside muttering something about desecratinghallowed graves.

Just as we reached the interior, owing to the heightening ofthe sun, the light passed away, leaving us in a kind of twilight.Bickley produced carriage candles from his pocket and fumbled formatches. While he was doing so I noticed two things--firstly,that the place really did smell like a scent-shop, and, secondly,that the coffins seemed to glow with a kind of phosphorescentlight of their own, not very strong, but sufficient to revealtheir outlines in the gloom. Then the candles burnt up and wesaw.

Within the coffin that stood on our left hand as we entered,for this crystal was as transparent as plate glass, lay a mostwonderful old man, clad in a gleaming, embroidered robe. His longhair, which was parted in the middle, as we could see beneath theedge of the pearl-sewn and broidered cap he wore, also his beardwere snowy white. The man was tall, at least six feet four inchesin height, and rather spare. His hands were long and thin, verydelicately made, as were his sandalled feet.

But it was his face that fixed our gaze, for it was marvelous,like the face of a god, and, as we noticed at once, with someresemblance to that of the statue above. Thus the brow was broadand massive, the nose straight and long, the mouth stern andclear-cut, while the cheekbones were rather high, and theeyebrows arched. Such are the characteristics of many handsomeold men of good blood, and as the mummies of Seti and others showus, such they have been for thousands of years. Only this mandiffered from all others because of the fearful dignity stampedupon his features. Looking at him I began to think at once of theprophet Elijah as he must have appeared rising to heaven,enhanced by the more earthly glory of Solomon, for although theappearance of these patriarchs is unknown, of them one conceivesideas. Only it seemed probable that Elijah may have looked morebenign. Here there was no benignity, only terrible force andinfinite wisdom.

Contemplating him I shivered a little and felt thankful that hewas dead. For to tell the truth I was afraid of that awesomecountenance which, I should add, was of the whiteness of paper,although the cheeks still showed tinges of colour, so perfect wasthe preservation of the corpse.

I was still gazing at it when Bickley said in a voice ofamazement:

"I say, look here, in the other coffin."

I turned, looked, and nearly collapsed on the floor of thevault, since beauty can sometimes strike us like a blow. Oh!there before me lay all loveliness, such loveliness that thereburst from my lips an involuntary cry:

"Alas! that she should be dead!"

A young woman, I supposed, at least she looked young, perhapsfive or six and twenty years of age, or so I judged. There shelay, her tall and delicate shape half hidden in masses ofrich-hued hair in colour of a ruddy blackness. I know not howelse to describe it, since never have I seen any of the sametint. Moreover, it shone with a life of its own as though it hadbeen dusted with gold. From between the masses of this hairappeared a face which I can only call divine. There was everybeauty that woman can boast, from the curving eyelashes ofextraordinary length to the sweet and human mouth. To thesecharms also were added a wondrous smile and an air of kinddignity, very different from the fierce pride stamped upon thecountenance of the old man who was her companion in death.

She was clothed in some close-fitting robe of white broideredwith gold; pearls were about her neck, lying far down upon theperfect bosom, a girdle of gold and shining gems encircled herslender waist, and on her little feet were sandals fastened withred stones like rubies. In truth, she was a splendid creature,and yet, I know not how, her beauty suggested more of the spiritthan of the flesh. Indeed, in a way, it was unearthly. My senseswere smitten, it pulled at my heart-strings, and yet itsunutterable strangeness seemed to awake memories within me,though of what I could not tell. A wild fancy came to me that Imust have known this heavenly creature in some past life.

By now Bastin had joined us, and, attracted by my exclamationand by the attitude of Bickley, who was staring down at thecoffin with a fixed look upon his face, not unlike that of apointer when he scents game, he began to contemplate the wonderwithin it in his slow way.

"Well, I never!" he said. "Do you think the Glittering Lady inthere is human?"

"The Glittering Lady is dead, but I suppose that she was humanin her life," I answered in an awed whisper.

"Of course she is dead, otherwise she would not be in thatglass coffin. I think I should like to read the Burial Serviceover her, which I daresay was never done when she was put inthere."

"How do you know she is dead?" asked Bickley in a sharp voiceand speaking for the first time. "I have seen hundreds ofcorpses, and mummies too, but never any that looked like these."

I stared at him. It was strange to hear Bickley, the scoffer atmiracles, suggesting that this greatest of all miracles might bepossible.

"They must have been here a long time," I said, "for althoughhuman, they are not, I think, of any people known to the worldto-day; their dress, everything, shows it, though perhapsthousands of years ago--" and I stopped.

"Quite so," answered Bickley; "I agree. That is why I suggestthat they may have belonged to a race who knew what we do not,namely, how to suspend animation for great periods of time."

I said no more, nor did Bastin, who was now engaged in studyingthe old man, and for once, wonderstruck and overcome. Bickley,however, took one of the candles and began to make a closeexamination of the coffins. So did Tommy, who sniffed along thejoin of that of the Glittering Lady until his nose reached acertain spot, where it remained, while his black tail began towag in a delighted fashion. Bickley pushed him away andinvestigated.

"As I thought," he said--"air-holes. See!"

I looked, and there, bored through the crystal of the coffin ina line with the face of its occupant, were a number of littleholes that either by accident or design outlined the shape of ahuman mouth.

"They are not airtight," murmured Bickley; "and if air canenter, how can dead flesh remain like that for ages?"

Then he continued his search upon the other side.

"The lid of this coffin works on hinges," he said. "Here theyare, fashioned of the crystal itself. A living person withincould have pulled it down before the senses departed."

"No," I answered; "for look, here is a crystal bolt at the endand it is shot from without."

This puzzled him; then as though struck by an idea, he began toexamine the other coffin.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed presently. "The old god in here"(somehow we all thought of this old man as not quite normal)"shut down the Glittering Lady's coffin and bolted it. His own isnot bolted, although the bolt exists in the same place. He justgot in and pulled down the lid. Oh! what nonsense I am talking--for how can such things be? Let us get out and think."

So we crept from the sepulchre in which the perfumed air hadbegun to oppress us and sat ourselves. down upon the floor of thecave, where for a while we remained silent.

"I am very thirsty," said Bastin presently. "Those smells seemto have dried me up. I am going to get some tea--I mean water, asunfortunately there is no tea," and he set off towards the mouthof the cave.

We followed him, I don't quite know why, except that we wishedto breathe freely outside, also we knew that the sepulchre andits contents would be as safe as they had been for--well, howlong?

It proved to be a beautiful morning outside. We walked up anddown enjoying it sub-consciously, for really our--that isBickley's and my own--intelligences were concentrated on thatsepulchre and its contents. Where Bastin's may have been I do notknow, perhaps in a visionary teapot, since I was sure that itwould take him a day or two to appreciate the significance of ourdiscoveries. At any rate, he wandered off, making no remarksabout them, to drink water, I suppose.

Presently he began to shout to us from the end of thetable-rock and we went to see the reason of his noise. It provedto be very satisfactory, for while we were in the cave theOrofenans had brought absolutely everything belonging to us,together with a large supply of food from the main island. Not asingle article was missing; even our books, a can with the bottomout, and the broken pieces of a little pocket mirror had beenreligiously transported, and with these a few articles that hadbeen stolen from us, notably my pocket-knife. Evidently a greattaboo had been laid upon all our possessions. They were nowcarefully arranged in one of the grooves of the rock that Bickleysupposed had been made by the wheels of aeroplanes, which was whywe had not seen them at once.

Each of us rushed for what we desired most--Bastin for one ofthe canisters of tea, I for my diaries, and Bickley for his chestof instruments and medicines. These were removed to the mouth ofthe cave, and after them the other things and the food; also abell tent and some camp furniture that we had brought from theship. Then Bastin made some tea of which he drank four largepannikins, having first said grace over it with unwonted fervour.Nor did we disdain our share of the beverage, although Bickleypreferred cocoa and I coffee. Cocoa and coffee we had no time tomake then, and in view of that sepulchre in the cave, what had weto do with cocoa and coffee?

So Bickley and I said to each other, and yet presently hechanged his mind and in a special metal machine carefully madesome extremely strong black coffee which he poured into a thermosflask, previously warmed with hot water, adding thereto about aclaret glass of brandy. Also he extracted certain drugs from hismedicine-chest, and with them, as I noted, a hypodermic syringe,which he first boiled in a kettle and then shut up in a littletube with a glass stopper.

These preparations finished, he called to Tommy to give him thescraps of our meal. But there was no Tommy. The dog was missing,and though we hunted everywhere we could not find him. Finally weconcluded that he had wandered off down the beach on business ofhis own and would return in due course. We could not bother aboutTommy just then.

After making some further preparations and fidgeting about alittle, Bickley announced that as we had now some proper paraffinlamps of the powerful sort which are known as "hurricane," heproposed by their aid to carry out further examinations in thecave.

"I think I shall stop where I am," said Bastin, helping himselffrom the kettle to a fifth pannikin of tea. "Those corpses arevery interesting, but I don't see any use in staring at themagain at present. One can always do that at any time. I havemissed Marama once already by being away in that cave, and I havea lot to say to him about my people; I don't want to be absent incase he should return."

"To wash up the things, I suppose," said Bickley with a sniff;"or perhaps to eat the tea-leaves."

"Well, as a matter of fact, I have noticed that these nativeshave a peculiar taste for tea-leaves. I think they believe themto be a medicine, but I don't suppose they would come so far forthem, though perhaps they might in the hope of getting the headof Oro. Anyhow, I am going to stop here."

"Pray do," said Bickley. "Are you ready, Humphrey?"

I nodded, and he handed to me a felt-covered flask of the non-conducting kind, filled with boiling water, a tin of preservedmilk, and a little bottle of meat extract of a most concentratedsort. Then, having lit two of the hurricane lamps and seen thatthey were full of oil, we started back up the cave.

Chapter XI

Resurrection

We reached the sepulchre without stopping to look at the parkedmachines or even the marvelous statue that stood above it, forwhat did we care about machines or statues now? As we approachedwe were astonished to hear low and cavernous growlings.

"There is some wild beast in there," said Bickley, halting."No, by George! it's Tommy. What can the dog be after?"

We peeped in, and there sure enough was Tommy lying on the topof the Glittering Lady's coffin and growling his very best withthe hair standing up upon his back. When he saw who it was,however, he jumped off and frisked round, licking my hand.

"That's very strange," I exclaimed.

"Not stranger than everything else," said Bickley.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"Open these coffins," he answered, "beginning with that of theold god, since I would rather experiment on him. I expect he willcrumble into dust. But if by chance he doesn't I'll jam a littlestrychnine, mixed with some other drugs, of which you don't knowthe names, into one of his veins and see if anything happens. Ifit doesn't, it won't hurt him, and if it does--well, who knows?Now give me a hand."

We went to the left-hand coffin and by inserting the hook onthe back of my knife, of which the real use is to pick stones outof horses' hoofs, into one of the little air-holes I havedescribed, managed to raise the heavy crystal lid sufficiently toenable us to force a piece of wood between it and the top. Therest was easy, for the hinges being of crystal had not corroded.In two minutes it was open.

From the chest came an overpowering spicy odour, and with it averitable breath of warm air before which we recoiled a little.Bickley took a pocket thermometer which he had at hand andglanced at it. It marked a temperature of 82 degrees in thesepulchre. Having noted this, he thrust it into the coffinbetween the crystal wall and its occupant. Then we went out andwaited a little while to give the odours time to dissipate, forthey made the head reel.

After five minutes or so we returned and examined thethermometer. It had risen to 98 degrees, the natural temperatureof the human body.

"What do you make of that if the man is dead?" he whispered.

I shook my head, and as we had agreed, set to helping him tolift the body from the coffin. It was a good weight, quite elevenstone I should say; moreover, it was not still, for the hipjoints bent. We got it out and laid it on a blanket we had spreadon the floor of the sepulchre. Whilst I was thus engaged I sawsomething that nearly caused me to loose my hold fromastonishment. Beneath the head, the centre of the back and thefeet were crystal boxes about eight inches square, or rathercrystal blocks, for in them I could see no opening, and theseboxes emitted a faint phosphorescent light. I touched one of themand found that it was quite warm.

"Great heavens!" I exclaimed, "here's magic."

"There's no such thing," answered Bickley in his usual formula.Then an explanation seemed to strike him and he added, "Not magicbut radium or something of the sort. That's how the temperaturewas kept up. In sufficient quantity it is practicallyindestructible, you see. My word! this old gentleman knew a thingor two."

Again we waited a little while to see if the body begun tocrumble on exposure to the air, I taking the opportunity to makea rough sketch of it in my pocket-book in anticipation of thatevent. But it did not; it remained quite sound.

"Here goes," said Bickley. "If he should be alive, he willcatch cold in his lungs after lying for ages in that babyincubator, as I suppose he has done. So it is now or never."

Then bidding me hold the man's right arm, he took thesterilized syringe which he had prepared, and thrusting theneedle into a vein he selected just above the wrist, injected thecontents.

"It would have been better over the heart," he whispered, "butI thought I would try the arm first. I don't like risking chillsby uncovering him."

I made no answer and again we waited and watched.

"Great heavens, he's stirring!" I gasped presently.

Stirring he was, for his fingers began to move.

Bickley bent down and placed his ear to the heart--I forgot tosay that he had tested this before with a stethoscope, but hadbeen unable to detect any movement.

"I believe it is beginning to beat," he said in an awed voice.

Then he applied the stethoscope, and added, "It is, it is!"

Next he took a filament of cotton wool and laid it on the man'slips. Presently it moved; he was breathing, though very faintly.Bickley took more cotton wool and having poured something fromhis medicine-chest on to it, placed it over the mouth beneath theman's nostrils--I believe it was sal volatile.

Nothing further happened for a little while, and to relieve thestrain on my mind I stared absently into the empty coffin. Here Isaw what had escaped our notice, two small plates of white metaland cut upon them what I took to be star maps. Beyond these andthe glowing boxes which I have mentioned, there was nothing elsein the coffin. I had no time to examine them, for at that momentthe old man opened his mouth and began to breathe, evidently withsome discomfort and effort, as his empty lungs filled themselveswith air. Then his eyelids lifted, revealing a wonderful pair ofdark glowing eyes beneath. Next he tried to sit up but would havefallen, had not Bickley supported him with his arm.

I do not think he saw Bickley, indeed he shut his eyes again asthough the light hurt them, and went into a kind of faint. Thenit was that Tommy, who all this while had been watching theproceedings with grave interest, came forward, wagging his tail,and licked the man's face. At the touch of the dog's red tongue,he opened his eyes for the second time. Now he saw--not us butTommy, for after contemplating him for a few seconds, somethinglike a smile appeared upon his fierce but noble face. More, helifted his hand and laid it on the dog's head, as though to patit kindly. Half a minute or so later his awakening sensesappreciated our presence. The incipient smile vanished and wasreplaced by a somewhat terrible frown.

Meanwhile Bickley had poured out some of the hot coffee lacedwith brandy into the cup that was screwed on the top of thethermos flask. Advancing to the man whom I supported, he put itto his lips. He tasted and made a wry face, but presently hebegan to sip, and ultimately swallowed it all. The effect of thestimulant was wonderful, for in a few minutes he came to lifecompletely and was even able to sit up without support.

For quite a long while he gazed at us gravely, talking us in andeverything connected with us. For instance, Bickley's medicine-case which lay open showing the little vulcanite tubes, a fewinstruments and other outfit, engaged his particular attention,and I saw at once that he understood what it was. Thus his armstill smarted where the needle had been driven in and on theblanket lay the syringe. He looked at his arm, then looked at thesyringe, and nodded. The paraffin hurricane lamps also seemed tointerest and win his approval. We two men, as I thought,attracted him least of all; he just summed us up and ourgarments, more especially the garments, with a few shrewdglances, and then seemed to turn his thoughts to Tommy, who hadseated himself quite contentedly at his side, evidently acceptinghim as a new addition to our party.

I confess that this behaviour on Tommy's part reassured me nota little. I am a great believer in the instincts of animals,especially of dogs, and I felt certain that if this man had notbeen in all essentials human like ourselves, Tommy would not havetolerated him. In the same way the sleeper's clear liking forTommy, at whom he looked much oftener and with greater kindnessthan he did at us, suggested that there was goodness in himsomewhere, since although a dog in its wonderful tolerance maylove a bad person in whom it smells out hidden virtue, no reallybad person ever loved a dog, or, I may add, a child or a flower.

As a matter of fact, the "old god," as we had christened himwhile he was in his coffin, during all our association with him,cared infinitely more for Tommy than he did for any of us, acircumstance that ultimately was not without its influence uponour fortunes. But for this there was a reason as we learnedafterwards, also he was not really so amiable as I hoped.

When we had looked at each other for a long while the sleeperbegan to arrange his beard, of which the length seemed tosurprise him, especially as Tommy was seated on one end of it.Finding this out and apparently not wishing to disturb Tommy, hegave up the occupation, and after one or two attempts, for histongue and lips still seemed to be stiff, addressed us in somesonorous and musical language, unlike any that we had ever heard.We shook our heads. Then by an afterthought I said "Good day" tohim in the language of the Orofenans. He puzzled over the word asthough it were more or less familiar to him, and when I repeatedit, gave it back to me with a difference indeed, but in a waywhich convinced us that he quite understood what I meant. Theconversation went no further at the moment because just then somememory seemed to strike him.

He was sitting with his back against the coffin of theGlittering Lady, whom therefore he had not seen. Now he began toturn round, and being too weak to do so, motioned me to help him.I obeyed, while Bickley, guessing his purpose, held up one of thehurricane lamps that he might see better. With a kind of fierceeagerness he surveyed her who lay within the coffin, and after hehad done so, uttered a sigh as of intense relief.

Next he pointed to the metal cup out of which he had drunk.Bickley filled it again from the thermos flask, which I observedexcited his keen interest, for, having touched the flask with hishand and found that it was cool, he appeared to marvel that thefluid coming from it should be hot and steaming. Presently hesmiled as though he had got the clue to the mystery, andswallowed his second drink of coffee and spirit. This done, hemotioned to us to lift the lid of the lady's coffin, pointing outa certain catch in the bolts which at first we could not master,for it will be remembered that on this coffin these were shot.

In the end, by pursuing the same methods that we had used inthe instance of his own, we raised the coffin lid and once morewere driven to retreat from the sepulchre for a while by theoverpowering odour like to that of a whole greenhouse full oftuberoses, that flowed out of it, inducing a kind of stupefactionfrom which even Tommy fled.

When we returned it was to find the man kneeling by the side ofthe coffin, for as yet he could not stand, with his glowing eyesfixed upon the face of her who slept therein and waving his longarms above her.

"Hypnotic business! Wonder if it will work," whispered Bickley.Then he lifted the syringe and looked inquiringly at the man, whoshook his head, and went on with his mesmeric passes.

I crept round him and took my stand by the sleeper's head, thatI might watch her face, which was well worth watching, whileBickley, with his medicine at hand, remained near her feet, Ithink engaged in disinfecting the syringe in some spirit or acid.I believe he was about to make an attempt to use it whensuddenly, as though beneath the influence of the hypnotic passes,a change appeared on the Glittering Lady's face. Hitherto,beautiful as it was, it had been a dead face though one of aperson who had suddenly been cut off while in full health andvigour a few hours, or at the most a day or so before. Now itbegan to live again; it was as though the spirit were returningfrom afar, and not without toil and tribulation.

Expression after expression flitted across the features; indeedthese seemed to change so much from moment to moment that theymight have belonged to several different individuals, though eachwas beautiful. The fact of these remarkable changes with thesuggestion of multiform personalities which they conveyedimpressed both Bickley and myself very much indeed. Then thebreast heaved tumultuously; it even appeared to struggle. Nextthe eyes opened. They were full of wonder, even of fear, but oh!what marvelous eyes. I do not know how to describe them, Icannot even state their exact colour, except that it was dark,something like the blue of sapphires of the deepest tint, and yetnot black; large, too, and soft as a deer's. They shut again asthough the light hurt them, then once more opened and wanderedabout, apparently without seeing.

At length they found my face, for I was still bending over her,and, resting there, appeared to take it in by degrees. More, itseemed to touch and stir some human spring in the still-sleepingheart. At least the fear passed from her features and wasreplaced by a faint smile, such as a patient sometimes gives toone known and well loved, as the effects of chloroform pass away.For a while she looked at me with an earnest, searching gaze,then suddenly, for the first time moving her arms, lifted themand threw them round my neck.

The old man stared, bending his imperial brows into a littlefrown, but did nothing. Bickley stared also through his glassesand sniffed as though in disapproval, while I remained quitestill, fighting with a wild impulse to kiss her on the lips asone would an awakening and beloved child. I doubt if I could havedone so, however, for really I was immovable; my heart seemed tostop and all my muscles to be paralysed.

I do not know for how long this endured, but I do know how itended. Presently in the intense silence I heard Bastin's heavyvoice and looking round, saw his big head projecting into thesepulchre.

"Well, I never!" he said, "you seem to have woke them up with avengeance. If you begin like that with the lady, there will becomplications before you have done, Arbuthnot."

Talk of being brought back to earth with a rush! I could havekilled Bastin, and Bickley, turning on him like a tiger, told himto be off, find wood and light a large fire in front of thestatue. I think he was about to argue when the Ancient gave him aglance of his fierce eyes, which alarmed him, and he departed,bewildered, to return presently with the wood.

But the sound of his voice had broken the spell. The Lady lether arms fall with a start, and shut her eyes again, seeming tofaint. Bickley sprang forward with his sal volatile and appliedit to her nostrils, the Ancient not interfering, for he seemed torecognise that he had to deal with a man of skill and one whomeant well by them.

In the end we brought her round again and, to omit details,Bickley gave her, not coffee and brandy, but a mixture hecompounded of hot water, preserved milk and meat essence. Theeffect of it on her was wonderful, since a few minutes afterswallowing it she sat up in the coffin. Then we lifted her fromthat narrow bed in which she had slept for--ah! how long? andperceived that beneath her also were crystal boxes of theradiant, heat-giving substance. We sat her on the floor of thesepulchre, wrapping her also in a blanket.

Now it was that Tommy, after frisking round her as though inwelcome of an old friend, calmly established himself beside herand laid his black head upon her knee. She noted it and smiledfor the first time, a marvelously sweet and gentle smile. More,she placed her slender hand upon the dog and stroked him feebly.

Bickley tried to make her drink some more of his mixture, butshe refused, motioning him to give it to Tommy. This, however, hewould not do because there was but one cup. Presently both of thesleepers began to shiver, which caused Bickley anxiety. AbusingBastin beneath his breath for being so long with the fire, hedrew the blankets closer about them.

Then an idea came to him and he examined the glowing boxes inthe coffin. They were loose, being merely set in preparedcavities in the crystal. Wrapping our handkerchiefs about hishand, he took them out and placed them around the wakenedpatients, a proceeding of which the Ancient nodded approval. Justthen, too, Bastin returned with his first load of firewood, andsoon we had a merry blaze going just outside the sepulchre. I sawthat they observed the lighting of this fire by means of a matchwith much interest.

Now they grew warm again, as indeed we did also--too warm. Thenin my turn I had an idea. I knew that by now the sun would bebeating hotly against the rock of the mount, and suggested toBickley, that, if possible, the best thing we could do would beto get them into its life-giving rays. He agreed, if we couldmake them understand and they were able to walk. So I tried.First I directed the Ancient's attention to the mouth of the cavewhich at this distance showed as a white circle of light. Helooked at it and then at me with grave inquiry. I made motions tosuggest that he should proceed there, repeating the word "Sun" inthe Orofenan tongue. He understood at once, though whether heread my mind rather than what I said I am not sure. Apparentlythe Glittering Lady understood also and seemed to be most anxiousto go. Only she looked rather pitifully at her feet and shook herhead. This decided me.

I do not know if I have mentioned anywhere that I am a tall manand very muscular. She was tall, also, but as I judged not sovery heavy after her long fast. At any rate I felt quite certainthat I could carry her for that distance. Stooping down, I liftedher up, signing to her to put her arms round my neck, which shedid. Then calling to Bickley and Bastin to bring along theAncient between them, with some difficulty I struggled out of thesepulchre, and started down the cave. She was more heavy than Ithought, and yet I could have wished the journey longer. To beginwith she seemed quite trustful and happy in my arms, where shelay with her head against my shoulder, smiling a little as achild might do, especially when I had to stop and throw her longhair round my neck like a muffler, to prevent it from trailing inthe dust.

A bundle of lavender, or a truss of new-mown hay, could nothave been more sweet to carry and there was something electricabout the touch of her, which went through and through me. Verysoon it was over, and we were out of the cave into the full gloryof the tropical sun. At first, that her eyes might becomeaccustomed to its light and her awakened body to its heat, I sether down where shadow fell from the overhanging rock, in a canvasdeck chair that had been brought by Marama with the other things,throwing the rug about her to protect her from such wind as therewas. She nestled gratefully into the soft seat and shut her eyes,for the motion had tired her. I noted, however, that she drew inthe sweet air with long breaths.

Then I turned to observe the arrival of the Ancient, who wasbeing borne between Bickley and Bastin in what children know as adandy-chair, which is formed by two people crossing their handsin a peculiar fashion. It says much for the tremendous dignity ofhis presence that even thus, with one arm round the neck ofBickley and the other round that of Bastin, and his long whitebeard falling almost to the ground, he still looked mostimposing.

Unfortunately, however, just as they were emerging from thecave, Bastin, always the most awkward of creatures, managed toleave hold with one hand, so that his passenger nearly came tothe ground. Never shall I forget the look that he gave him.Indeed, I think that from this moment he hated Bastin. Bickley herespected as a man of intelligence and learning, although incomparison with his own, the latter was infantile and crude; mehe tolerated and even liked; but Bastin he detested. The only oneof our party for whom he felt anything approaching real affectionwas the spaniel Tommy.

We set him down, fortunately uninjured, on some rugs, and alsoin the shadow. Then, after a little while, we moved both of theminto the sun. It was quite curious to see them expand there. AsBickley said, what happened to them might well be compared to thedevelopment of a butterfly which has just broken from the livinggrave of its chrysalis and crept into the full, hot radiance ofthe light. Its crinkled wings unfold, their brilliant tintsdevelop; in an hour or two it is perfect, glorious, prepared forlife and flight, a new creature.

So it was with this pair, from moment to moment they gatheredstrength and vigour. Near-by to them, as it happened, stood alarge basket of the luscious native fruits brought that morningby the Orofenans, and at these the Lady looked with longing. WithBickley's permission, I offered them to her and to the Ancient,first peeling them with my fingers. They ate of them greedily, afull meal, and would have gone on had not the stern Bickley,fearing untoward consequences, removed the basket. Again theresults were wonderful, for half an hour afterwards they seemedto be quite strong. With my assistance the Glittering Lady, as Istill call her, for at that time I did not know her name, rosefrom the chair, and, leaning on me, tottered a few steps forward.Then she stood looking at the sky and all the lovely panorama ofnature beneath, and stretching out her arms as though in worship.Oh! how beautiful she seemed with the sunlight shining on herheavenly face!

Now for the first time I heard her voice. It was soft and deep,yet in it was a curious bell-like tone that seemed to vibratelike the sound of chimes heard from far away. Never have Ilistened to such another voice. She pointed to the sun whereofthe light turned her radiant hair and garments to a kind ofgolden glory, and called it by some name that I could notunderstand. I shook my head, whereon she gave it a different nametaken, I suppose, from another language. Again I shook my headand she tried a third time. To my delight this word waspractically the same that the Orofenans used for "sun."

"Yes," I said, speaking very slowly, "so it is called by thepeople of this land."

She understood, for she answered in much the same language:

"What, then, do you call it?"

"Sun in the English tongue," I replied.

"Sun. English," she repeated after me, then added, "How are younamed, Wanderer?"

"Humphrey," I answered.

"HumÄfe-Äry!" she said as though she were learning the word,"and those?"

"Bastin and Bickley," I replied.

Over these patronymics she shook her head; as yet they were toomuch for her.

"How are you named, Sleeper?" I asked.

"Yva," she answered.

"A beautiful name for one who is beautiful," I declared withenthusiasm, of course always in the rich Orofenan dialect whichby now I could talk well enough.

She repeated the words once or twice, then of a sudden caughttheir meaning, for she smiled and even coloured, saying hastilywith a wave of her hand towards the Ancient who stood at adistance between Bastin and Bickley, "My father, Oro; great man;great king; great god!"

At this information I started, for it was startling to learnthat here was the original Oro, who was still worshipped by theOrofenans, although of his actual existence they had knownnothing for uncounted time. Also I was glad to learn that he washer father and not her old husband, for to me that would havebeen horrible, a desecration too deep for words.

"How long did you sleep, Yva?" I asked, pointing towards thesepulchre in the cave.

After a little thought she understood and shook her headhopelessly, then by an afterthought, she said,

"Stars tell Oro to-night."

So Oro was an astronomer as well as a king and a god. I hadguessed as much from those plates in the coffin which seemed tohave stars engraved on them.

At this point our conversation came to an end, for the Ancienthimself approached, leaning on the arm of Bickley who was engagedin an animated argument with Bastin.

"For Heaven's sake!" said Bickley, "keep your theology toyourself at present. If you upset the old fellow and put him in atemper he may die."

"If a man tells me that he is a god it is my duty to tell himthat he is a liar," replied Bastin obstinately.

"Which you did, Bastin, only fortunately he did not understandyou. But for your own sake I advise you not to take liberties. Heis not one, I think, with whom it is wise to trifle. I think heseems thirsty. Go and get some water from the rain pool, not fromthe lake."

Bastin departed and presently returned with an aluminum jugfull of pure water and a glass. Bickley poured some of it into aglass and handed it to Yva who bent her head in thanks. Then shedid a curious thing. Having first lifted the glass with bothhands to the sky and held it so for a few seconds, she turned andwith an obeisance poured a little of it on the ground before herfather's feet.

A libation, thought I to myself, and evidently Bastin agreedwith me, for I heard him mutter,

"I believe she is making a heathen offering."

Doubtless we were right, for Oro accepted the homage by alittle motion of the head. After this, at a sign from him shedrank the water. Then the glass was refilled and handed to Orowho also held it towards the sky. He, however, made no libationbut drank at once, two tumblers of it in rapid succession.

By now the direct sunlight was passing from the mouth of thecave, and though it was hot enough, both of them shivered alittle. They spoke together in some language of which we couldnot understand a word, as though they were debating what theircourse of action should be. The dispute was long and earnest. Hadwe known what was passing, which I learned afterwards, it wouldhave made us sufficiently anxious, for the point at issue wasnothing less than whether we should or should not be forthwithdestroyed--an end, it appears, that Oro was quite capable ofbringing about if he so pleased. Yva, however, had very clearviews of her own on the matter and, as I gather, even dared tothreaten that she would protect us by the use of certain powersat her command, though what these were I do not know.

While the event hung doubtful Tommy, who was growing bored withthese long proceedings, picked up a bough still covered withflowers which, after their pretty fashion, the Orofenans hadplaced on the top of one of the baskets of food. This small boughhe brought and laid at the feet of Oro, no doubt in the hope thathe would throw it for him to fetch, a game in which the dogdelighted. For some reason Oro saw an omen in this simple canineperformance, or he may have thought that the dog was making anoffering to him, for he put his thin hand to his brow and thoughta while, then motioned to Bastin to pick up the bough and give itto him.

Next he spoke to his daughter as though assenting to something,for I saw her sigh in relief. No wonder, for he was conveying hisdecision to spare our lives and admit us to their fellowship.

After this again they talked, but in quite a different tone andmanner. Then the Glittering Lady said to me in her slow andarchaic Orofenan:

"We go to rest. You must not follow. We come back perhapstonight, perhaps next night. We are quite safe. You are quitesafe under the beard of Oro. Spirit of Oro watch you. Youunderstand?"

I said I understood, whereon she answered:

"Good-bye, O Humfe-ry."

"Good-bye, O Yva," I replied, bowing.

Thereon they turned and refusing all assistance from us,vanished into the darkness of the cave leaning upon each otherand walking slowly.

Chapter XII

Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Years!

"You seem to have made the best of your time, old fellow," saidBickley in rather a sour voice.

"I never knew people begin to call each other by theirChristian names so soon," added Bastin, looking at me with asuspicious eye.

"I know no other," I said.

"Perhaps not, but at any rate you have another, though youdon't seem to have told it to her. Anyway, I am glad they aregone, for I was getting tired of being ordered by everybody tocarry about wood and water for them. Also I am terribly hungry asI can't eat before it is light. They have taken most of the bestfruit to which I was looking forward, but thank goodness they donot seem to care for pork."

When we had eaten, somewhat silently, I asked Bickley what hemade of the business; also whither he thought the sleepers hadgone.

"I think I can answer the last question," interrupted Bastin."I expect it is to a place well known to students of the Biblewhich even Bickley mentions sometimes when he is angry. At anyrate, they seem to be very fond of heat, for they wouldn't partfrom it even in their coffins, and you will admit that they arenot quite natural, although that Glittering Lady is so attractiveas regards her exterior."

Bickley waved these remarks aside and addressed himself to me.

"I don't know what to think of it," he said; "but as theexperience is not natural and everything in the Universe, so faras we know it, has a natural explanation, I am inclined to thebelief that we are suffering from hallucinations, which in theirway are also quite natural. It does not seem possible that twopeople can really have been asleep for an unknown length of timeenclosed in vessels of glass or crystal, kept warm by radium orsome such substance, and then emerge from them comparativelystrong and well. It is contrary to natural law."

"How about microbes?" I asked. "They are said to lastpractically for ever, and they are living things. So in theircase your natural law breaks down."

"That is true," he answered. "Some microbes in a sealed tubeand under certain conditions do appear to possess indefinitepowers of life. Also radium has an indefinite life, but that is amineral. Only these people are not microbes nor are theyminerals. Also, experience tells us that they could not havelived for more than a few months at the outside in suchcircumstances as we seemed to find them."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I suggest that we did not really find them at all; that wehave all been dreaming. You know that there are certain gaseswhich produce illusions, laughing gas is one of them, and thatthese gases are sometimes met with in caves. Now there were verypeculiar odours in that place under the statue, which may haveworked upon our imaginations in some such way. Otherwise we areup against a miracle, and, as you know, I do not believe inmiracles."

"I do," said Bastin calmly. "You'll find all about it in theBible if you will only take the trouble to read. Why do you talksuch rubbish about gases?"

"Because only gas, or something of the sort, could have made usimagine them."

"Nonsense, Bickley! Those people were here right enough. Didn'tthey eat our fruit and drink the water I brought them withoutever saying thank you? Only, they are not human. They are evilspirits, and for my part I don't want to see any more of them,though I have no doubt Arbuthnot does, as that Glittering Ladythrew her arms round his neck when she woke up, and already he iscalling her by her Christian name, if the word Christian can beused in connection with her. The old fellow had the impudence totell us that he was a god, and it is remarkable that he shouldhave called himself Oro, seeing that the devil they worship onthe island is also called Oro and the place itself is namedOrofena."

"As to where they have gone," continued Bickley, taking nonotice of Bastin, "I really don't know. My expectation is,however, that when we go to look tomorrow morning--and I suggestthat we should not do so before then in order that we may giveour minds time to clear--we shall find that sepulchre place quiteempty, even perhaps without the crystal coffins we have imaginedto stand there."

"Perhaps we shall find that there isn't a cave at all and thatwe are not sitting on a flat rock outside of it," suggestedBastin with heavy sarcasm, adding, "You are clever in your way,Bickley, but you can talk more rubbish than any man I ever knew."

"They told us they would come back tonight or tomorrow," Isaid. "If they do, what will you say then, Bickley?"

"I will wait till they come to answer that question. Now let usgo for a walk and try to change our thoughts. We are allover-strained and scarcely know what we are saying."

"One more question," I said as we rose to start. "Did Tommysuffer from hallucinations as well as ourselves?"

"Why not?" answered Bickley. "He is an animal just as we are,or perhaps we thought we saw Tommy do the things he did."

"When you found that basket of fruit, Bastin, which the nativesbrought over in the canoe, was there a bough covered with redflowers lying on the top of it?"

"Yes, Arbuthnot, one bough only; I threw it down on the rock asit got in the way when I was carrying the basket."

"Which flowering bough we all thought we saw the Sleeper Orocarry away after Tommy had brought it to him."

"Yes; he made me pick it up and give it to him," said Bastin.

"Well, if we did not see this it should still be lying on therock, as there has been no wind and there are no animals here tocarry it away. You will admit that, Bickley?"

He nodded.

"Then if it has gone you will admit also that the presumptionis that we saw what we thought we did see?"

"I do not know how that conclusion can be avoided, at any rateso far as the incident of the bough is concerned," repliedBickley with caution.

Then, without more words, we started to look. At the spot wherethe bough should have been, there was no bough, but on the rocklay several of the red flowers, bitten off, I suppose, by Tommywhile he was carrying it. Nor was this all. I think I havementioned that the Glittering Lady wore sandals which werefastened with red studs that looked like rubies or carbuncles. Onthe rock lay one of these studs. I picked it up and we examinedit. It had been sewn to the sandal-strap with golden thread orsilk. Some of this substance hung from the hole drilled in thestone which served for an eye. It was as rotten as tinder,apparently with extreme age. Moreover, the hard gem itself waspitted as though the passage of time had taken effect upon it,though this may have been caused by other agencies, such as theaction of the radium rays. I smiled at Bickley who lookeddisconcerted and even sad. In a way it is painful to see theeffect upon an able and earnest man of the upsetting of hislifelong theories.

We went for our walk, keeping to the flat lands at the foot ofthe volcano cone, for we seemed to have had enough of wonders andto desire to reassure ourselves, as it were, by the study ofnatural and familiar things. As it chanced, too, we were rewardedby sundry useful discoveries. Thus we found a place where thebread-tree and other fruits, most of them now ripe, grew inabundance, as did the yam. Also, we came to an inlet that wenoticed was crowded with large and beautiful fish from the lake,which seemed to find it a favourite spot. Perhaps this wasbecause a little stream of excellent water ran in here,overflowing from the great pool or mere which filled the craterabove.

At these finds we rejoiced greatly, for now we knew that weneed not fear starvation even should our supply of food from themain island be cut off. Indeed, by help of some palm-leaf stalkswhich we wove together roughly, Bastin, who was rather clever atthis kind of thing, managed to trap four fish weighing two orthree pounds apiece, wading into the water to do so. It wascurious to observe with what ease he adapted himself to themanners and customs of primeval man, so much so, indeed, thatBickley remarked that if he could believe in re-incarnation, hewould be absolutely certain that Bastin was a troglodyte in hislast sojourn on the earth.

However this might be, Bastin's primeval instincts andabilities were of the utmost service to us. Before we had beenmany days on that island he had built us a kind of native hut orhouse roofed with palm leaves in which, until provided with abetter, as happened afterwards, we ate and he and Bickley slept,leaving the tent to me. Moreover, he wove a net of palm fibrewith which he caught abundance of fish, and made fishing-lines ofthe same material (fortunately we had some hooks) which he baitedwith freshwater mussels and the insides of fish. By means ofthese he secured some veritable monsters of the carp species thatproved most excellent eating. His greatest triumph, however, wasa decoy which he constructed of boughs, wherein he trapped anumber of waterfowl. So that soon we kept a very good table of asort, especially after he had learned how to cook our food uponthe native plan by means of hot stones. This suited us admirably,as it enabled Bickley and myself to devote all our time toarchaeological and other studies which did not greatly interestBastin.

By the time that we got back to camp it was drawing towardsevening, so we cooked our food and ate, and then, thoroughlyexhausted, made ourselves as comfortable as we could and went tosleep. Even our marvelous experiences could not keep Bickley andmyself from sleeping, and on Bastin such things had no effect. Heaccepted them and that was all, much more readily than we did,indeed. Triple-armed as he was in the mail of a child-like faith,he snapped his fingers at evil spirits which he supposed theSleepers to be, and at everything else that other men mightdread.

Now, as I have mentioned, after our talk with Marama, althoughwe did not think it wise to adventure ourselves among them againat present, we had lost all fear of the Orofenans. In thisattitude, so far as Marama himself and the majority of his peoplewere concerned, we were quite justified, for they were our warmfriends. But in the case of the sorcerers, the priests and alltheir rascally and superstitious brotherhood, we were by no meansjustified. They had not forgiven Bastin his sacrilege or for hisundermining of their authority by the preaching of new doctrineswhich, if adopted, would destroy them as a hierarchy. Nor hadthey forgiven Bickley for shooting one of their number, or any ofus for our escape from the vengeance of their god.

So it came about that they made a plot to seize us all and haleus off to be sacrificed to a substituted image of Oro, which bynow they had set up. They knew exactly where we slept upon therock; indeed, our fire showed it to them and so far they were notafraid to venture, since here they had been accustomed forgenerations to lay their offerings to the god of the Mountain.Secretly on the previous night, without the knowledge of Marama,they had carried two more canoes to the borders of the lake. Nowon this night, just as the moon was setting about three in themorning, they made their attack, twenty-one men in all, for thethree canoes were large, relying on the following darkness to getus away and convey us to the place of sacrifice to be offered upat dawn and before Marama could interfere.

The first we knew of the matter, for most foolishly we hadneglected to keep a watch, was the unpleasant sensation of brawnysavages kneeling on us and trussing us up with palm-fibre ropes.Also they thrust handfuls of dry grass into our mouths to preventus from calling out, although as air came through the intersticesof the grass, we did not suffocate. The thing was so well donethat we never struck a blow in self-defence, and although we hadour pistols at hand, much less could we fire a shot. Of course,we struggled as well as we were able, but it was quite useless;in three minutes we were as helpless as calves in a net and likecalves were being conveyed to the butcher. Bastin managed to getthe gag out of his mouth for a few seconds, and I heard him sayin his slow, heavy voice:

"This, Bickley, is what comes of trafficking with evil spiritsin museum cases--" There his speech stopped, for the grass wadwas jammed down his throat again, but distinctly I heard theinarticulate Bickley snort as he conceived the repartee he wasunable to utter. As for myself, I reflected that the businessserved us right for not keeping a watch, and abandoned the issueto fate.

Still, to confess the truth, I was infinitely more sorry to diethan I should have been forty-eight hours earlier. This is a dulland in most ways a dreadful world, one, if we could only summonthe courage, that some of us would be glad to leave in search ofnew adventures. But here a great and unprecedented adventure hadbegun to befall me, and before its mystery was solved, beforeeven I could formulate a theory concerning it, my body must bedestroyed, and my intelligence that was caged therein, sent farafield; or, if Bickley were right, eclipsed. It seemed so sadjust when the impossible, like an unguessed wandering moon, hadrisen over the grey flats of the ascertained and made them shinewith hope and wonder.

They carried us off to the canoes, not too gently; indeed, Iheard the bony frame of Bastin bump into the bottom of one ofthem and reflected, not without venom, that it served him rightas he was the fount and origin of our woes. Two stinkingmagicians, wearing on their heads undress editions of their courtcages, since these were too cumbersome for active work of thesort, and painted all over with various pigments, were just aboutto swing me after him into the same, or another canoe, whensomething happened. I did not know what it was, but as a result,my captors left hold of me so that I fell to the rock, lying uponmy back.

Then, within my line of vision, which, it must be remembered,was limited because I could not lift my head, appeared the upperpart of the tall person of the Ancient who said that he was namedOro. I could only see him down to his middle, but I noted vaguelythat he seemed to be much changed. For instance, he wore adifferent coloured dress, or rather robe; this time it was darkblue, which caused me to wonder where on earth it came from.Also, his tremendous beard had been trimmed and dressed, and onhis head there was a simple black cap, strangely quilted, whichlooked as though it were made of velvet. Moreover, his face hadplumped out. He still looked ancient, it is true, and unutterablywise, but now he resembled an antique youth, so great were hisenergy and vigour. Also, his dark and glowing eyes shone with afearful intensity. In short, he seemed impressive and terriblealmost beyond imagining.

He looked about him slowly, then asked in a deep, cold voice,speaking in the Orofenan tongue:

"What do you, slaves?"

No one seemed able to answer, they were too horror-stricken atthis sudden vision of their fabled god, whose fierce features ofwood had become flesh; they only turned to fly. He waved his thinhand and they came to a standstill, like animals which havereached the end of their tether and are checked by the chainsthat bind them. There they stood in all sorts of postures,immovable and looking extremely ridiculous in their paint andfeathers, with dread unutterable stamped upon their evil faces.

The Sleeper spoke again:

"You would murder as did your forefathers, O children of snakesand hogs fashioned in the shape of men. You would sacrifice thosewho dwell in my shadow to satisfy your hate because they arewiser than you. Come hither thou," and he beckoned with a bonyfinger to the chief magician.

The man advanced towards him in short jumps, as a mechanicaltoy might do, and stood before him, his miniature crate andfeathers all awry and the sweat of terror melting the paint instreaks upon his face.

"Look into the eyes of Oro, O worshipper of Oro," said theSleeper, and he obeyed, his own eyes starting out of his head.

"Receive the curse of Oro," said the Ancient again. Thenfollowed a terrible spectacle. The man went raving mad. Hebounded into the air to a height inconceivable. He threw himselfupon the ground and rolled upon the rock. He rose again andstaggered round and round, tearing pieces out of his arms withhis teeth. He yelled hideously like one possessed. He grovelled,beating his forehead against the rock. Then he sat up, slowlychoked and--died.

His companions seemed to catch the infection of death asterrified savages often do. They too performed dreadful antics,all except three of them who stood paralysed. They rushed aboutbattering each other with their fists and wooden weapons, lookinglike devils from hell in their hideous painted attire. Theygrappled and fought furiously. They separated and plunged intothe lake, where with a last grimace they sank like stones.

It seemed to last a long while, but I think that as a matter offact within five minutes it was over; they were all dead. Onlythe three paralysed ones remained standing and rolling theireyes.

The Sleeper beckoned to them with his thin finger, and theywalked forward in step like soldiers.

"Lift that man from the boat," he said, pointing to Bastin,"cut his bonds and those of the others."

They obeyed with a Wonderful alacrity. In a minute we stood atliberty and were pulling the grass gags from our mouths. TheAncient pointed to the head magician who lay dead upon the rock,his hideous, contorted countenance staring open-eyed at heaven.

"Take that sorcerer and show him to the other sorcerers yonder,"he said, "and tell them where your fellows are if they would findthem. Know by these signs that the Oro, god of the Mountain, whohas slept a while, is awake, and ill will it go with them whoquestion his power or dare to try to harm those who dwell in hishouse. Bring food day by day and await commands. Begone!"

The dreadful-looking body was bundled into one of the canoes,that out of which Bastin had emerged. A rower sprang into each ofthem and presently was paddling as he had never done before. Asthe setting moon vanished, they vanished with it, and once morethere was a great silence.

"I am going to find my boots," said Bastin. "This rock is hardand I hurt my feet kicking at those poor fellows who appear tohave come to a bad end, how, I do not exactly understand.Personally, I think that more allowances should have been madefor them, as I hope will be the case elsewhere, since after allthey only acted according to their lights."

"Curse their lights!" ejaculated Bickley, feeling his throatwhich was bruised. "I'm glad they are out."

Bastin limped away in search of his boots, but Bickley and Istood where we were contemplating the awakened Sleeper. Allrecollection of the recent tumultuous scene seemed to have passedfrom his mind, for he was engaged in a study of the heavens. Theywere wonderfully brilliant now that the moon was down, brilliantas they only can be in the tropics when the sky is clear.

Something caused me to look round, and there, coming towardsus, was she who said her name was Yva. Evidently all her weaknesshad departed also, for now she needed no support, but walked witha peculiar gliding motion that reminded me of a swan floatingforward on the water. Well had we named her the Glittering Lady,for in the starlight literally she seemed to glitter. I supposethe effect came from her golden raiment, which, however, Inoticed, as in her father's case, was not the same that she hadworn in the coffin; also from her hair that seemed to give out alight of its own. At least, she shimmered as she came, her tallshape swaying at every step like a willow in the wind. She drewnear, and I saw that her face, too, had filled out and now wasthat of one in perfect health and vigour, while her eyes shonesoftly and seemed wondrous large.

In her hands she carried those two plates of metal which I hadseen lying in the coffin of the Sleeper Oro. These she gave tohim, then fell back out of his hearing--if it were ever possibleto do this, a point on which I am not sure--and began to talk tome. I noted at once that in the few hours during which she wasabsent, her knowledge of the Orofenan tongue seemed to haveimproved greatly as though she had drunk deeply from some hiddenfount of memory. Now she spoke it with readiness, as Oro had donewhen he addressed the sorcerers, although many of the words sheused were not known to me, and the general form of her languageappeared archaic, as for instance that of Spenser is comparedwith modern English. When she saw I did not comprehend her,however, she would stop and cast her sentences in a differentshape, till at length I caught her meaning. Now I give thesubstance of what she said.

"You are safe," she began, glancing first at the palm ropesthat lay upon the rock and then at my wrists, one of which wascut.

"Yes, Lady Yva, thanks to your father."

"You should say thanks to me. My father was thinking of otherthings, but I was thinking of you strangers, and from where I wasI saw those wicked ones coming to kill you."

"Oh! from the top of the mountain, I suppose."

She shook her head and smiled but vouchsafed no furtherexplanation, unless her following words can be so called. Thesewere:

"I can see otherwise than with my eyes, if I choose." Astatement that caused Bickley, who was listening, to mutter:

"Impossible! What the deuce can she mean? Telepathy, perhaps."

"I saw," she continued, "and told the Lord, my father. He cameforth. Did he kill them? I did not look to learn."

"Yes. They lie in the lake, all except three whom hesent away as messengers."

"I thought so. Death is terrible, O Humphrey, but it is a swordwhich those, who rule must use to smite the wicked and thesavage.

Not wishing to pursue this subject, I asked her what her fatherwas doing with the metal plates.

"He reads the stars," she answered, "to learn how long we havebeen asleep. Before we went to sleep he made two pictures ofthem, as they were then and as they should be at the time he hadset for our awakening."

"We set that time," interrupted Bickley.

"Not so. O Bickley," she answered, smiling again. "In thedivine Oro's head was the time set. You were the hand thatexecuted his decree."

When Bickley heard this I really thought he would have burst.However, he controlled himself nobly, being anxious to hear theend of this mysterious fib.

"How long was the time that the lord Oro set apart for sleep?"I asked.

She paused as though puzzled to find words to express hermeaning, then held up her hands and said:

"Ten," nodding at her fingers. By second thoughts she tookBickley's hands, not mine, and counted his ten fingers.

"Ten years," said Bickley. "Well, of course, it is impossible,but perhaps--" and he paused.